Join Our Upcoming KanORS-EMR Interactive Webinar

[AKanudia]

Hello Veda Community,

We're thrilled to announce an upcoming interactive webinar hosted by KanORS-EMR, and your participation is key to its success! This event is all about addressing the challenges and hurdles you face while using Veda.

We Need Your Input! 

Have you been experiencing issues like time-consuming file imports or complex workflows? Or are there aspects of Veda that could be more intuitive or efficient? This is your chance to voice those concerns.

How to Get Involved:

1. Describe Your Challenges: Post the specific issues you’ve encountered while using Veda in this thread. The more detailed you are, the better we can understand and address your needs.
   


2. Suggest Improvements: If you have ideas or suggestions for new features or enhancements, we'd love to hear them! Your insights could shape the future of Veda.
   


3. Other Communication Ideas: If you have suggestions on how we can better gather your feedback, please share those as well.
   

Based on your contributions, we will schedule the webinar in the coming weeks. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to directly influence the development and improvement of Veda.

We're excited to hear from you and to work together in making Veda even more user-friendly and efficient for everyone.

Warm regards,
KanORS-EMR Team

[kathleen93]

Dear KanORS-EMR Team,
Thank you very much for providing us the opportunity to discuss potential improvements for VEDA. Here are some suggestions below.

Synchronization. We had some very long-time synchronization issues recently, especially after modifying sets, but you have resolved this. It is much better now, so thank you for that.

Reporting inputs. We have increasing requests to report on model input data and assumptions (for transparency) and we would appreciate any features that would facilitate this task. One idea is to be able to save tables (layout + content) in the Browser, as we can do in the results file, so that we can easily update input data tables in our reports. Another one is to be able to make zoom out views of the RES (acknowledging it is not an easy one).

Run manager. It would be nice to have a notion of 'master user' who could delete scenario group definition and saved cases from others.

Reporting outputs. The 'Update Excel' function has become impossible for us to use given the number/size of our output tables and number of scenarios. We have been using other approaches (starting from the CSV or the VD files directly). So we are OK, but I am sure that many users would benefit from an improved 'update Excel' function.

Sorry if some these features are already implemented, I have not been using V3 a lot since it has been released.

Looking forward to discussing and the hearing about others' challenges.

Best,
The ESMIA team

[AKanudia]

Thanks for the response and suggestions.

Reporting inputs: I use process sets and saved layouts for this purpose. You just need to unselect some attributes before exporting.

Reporting outputs: I fully agree that 'Update Excel' is quite cumbersome in general, and practically unusable beyond a point. This is why we created the Reporting feature. We will make this an important item of discussion in the webinar.

[olexandr]

Dear KanORS-EMR Team,

Thanks for this initiative! One feature I've been missing is taking into account dependencies between cases when doing batch runs. I.e. in case multiple cases are selected, it would be great if cases without GDX references were run first.

Thanks,
Olex

[AKanudia]

Can't you just order the cases as you want them run? Am I missing something?

And in case you are doing large batches, you must explore and exploit the parametric scenario feature. I hardly ever use more than two scenario groups in a model.

[Hiroshi Hamasaki]

Dear VEDA Development Team,

I have some suggestions to update VEDA functions.

• SUbRES_XXX_Trans.xlsx is not displayed in Navigate within VEDA.
  


• We would like to see visuals similar to those of VEDA Online made available.
  


• Many files with different dates are automatically generated for the result files, but the files become cumbersome and the FE side should be able to decide how to manage the result files.
  


• I want to be able to Sync without EXCEL.
  


• I want VEDA to work on MAC.
  


• The Network Diagram in VEDA Online should also be made available in VEDA. It would make it easier to explain the structure of the model.
  

Thanks

HIroshi

[VictorG]

Dear kanors team,

Thank you for giving this opportunity.

I also think that the current setup for results analysis could be improved. I had at some point difficulties when I had multiple scenarios to analyse with reasonably large vd files. Exporting csv files after a couple of click was tedious.

My colleagues developed a tool to automate the result analysis, after I hit the solve button, I just have to click on refresh in my excel files that have all the bar charts. I do not use the results feature of veda2.0 anymore. I do the data preparation with veda2 on a specific machine, then all the computation are done on a remote server, all the file management is done with bash commands. The vd files are dumped in a sqlite database I can do queries with power query for simple graphs and pandas more complex charts. I can use sql to preprocess to speed the process of data extraction on vd files.

You can have a look on this tool at: https://github.com/vctrglt/vd2db-example.git

Nonetheless, I found it difficult for colleagues to use it, especially when not familiar with CLI and power query. Moreover it is redundant with the postgresql database that is already here for veda. My suggestion would be to have an access to the postgresql database to do queries directly for result analysis. It would be nice to have the possibility to feed it with gdx with powershell commands.

This might be redundant with the report function, but it is locked with my license and I cannot try it.
Thanks
Victor

[LucasD]

Dear KanORS-EMR Team,

Thank you for this opportunity.

I agree with Hiroshi's last request and would like to contribute additional ideas.
My colleagues and I have been working on developing a tool for RES visualization based on vdt files. After extraction and pre-treatment of the data, the tool prompts the users to specify which part of the RES they would like to visualize. It can be:
- a sector
- a list of commodities and/or processes
- a certain number of parents/offshoots from a commodity or process
- identifying processes and commodities between two commodities/processes
- and more

This generates a subvdt file that can be imported into yEd software for visualization. It would be nice to have such a tool directly available in Veda. It would help modelers validate their RES.

Best regards,
Lucas

[olexandr]

Can't you just order the cases as you want them run? Am I missing something?

And in case you are doing large batches, you must explore and exploit the parametric scenario feature. I hardly ever use more than two scenario groups in a model.

Thanks Amit. How would you do it?
It seems I've asked for this before: https://forum.kanors-emr.org/showthread.php?tid=1209

Let's say I have 4 cases. Each of them takes an hour to solve. One of them serves as a GDX reference for the other 3. It would be very convenient, if one could select all 4 of them, press solve button and Veda would handle the independent case first. Once it is solved, Veda would take care of the remaining 3 case.

[AKanudia]

OK, I guess you are talking about the case when you have chosen to solve multiple runs in parallel. We can introduce a feature for this.

[Antti-L]

[This post is somewhat off-topic, sorry for that.]
@VictorG  Thanks for sharing the link to the vd2db tool. I tested a bit with it, but for some reason in my tests the tool had some problems with it assigning NA values for '-' and 'NONE': the VD import terminated into an SQLAlchemy error, caused by attempts to insert records with NA values. I managed to fix that issue, and finally got the my whole test vd file imported (over 6 million records). However, the tool appears to be rather slow: It took about 130 seconds the make the SQLite database from that test vd file, while with the GAMS tools (CSV2GDX and GDX2SQLite) it took only 18 seconds to create an almost similar SQLite database (7 times faster). I thus understand the desire for a smoother mechanism, but I think using the GAMS tools might also be a reasonable alternative.

[Gargiulo]

Dear Kanors-EMR team,

- Subres template: add the option of having regions in SubRes
- Run manager module: add the possibility of deleting multiple scenario groups (as per Managed Saved Cases)
- Results module: make easier/faster the removal of a scenario case (without opening the manage model view).
- Results module: Change the quadrant name Attributes in Variables. The atttribute name is very confusing to new users.
- TIMES and Veda attributes: add a legend on the meaning of O, U, T, etc. Furthermore, consistency check between reported columns and Veda input table headers (not always the same, it would be useful to use one of the column headers names support in the VEDA templates)

Thanks,
E4SMA team

[Gary]

Hello Veda Community,

We're thrilled to announce an upcoming interactive webinar hosted by KanORS-EMR, and your participation is key to its success! This event is all about addressing the challenges and hurdles you face while using Veda.

We Need Your Input! 

Have you been experiencing issues like time-consuming file imports or complex workflows? Or are there aspects of Veda that could be more intuitive or efficient? This is your chance to voice those concerns.

How to Get Involved:

1. Describe Your Challenges: Post the specific issues you’ve encountered while using Veda in this thread. The more detailed you are, the better we can understand and address your needs.
   


2. Suggest Improvements: If you have ideas or suggestions for new features or enhancements, we'd love to hear them! Your insights could shape the future of Veda.
   


3. Other Communication Ideas: If you have suggestions on how we can better gather your feedback, please share those as well.
   

Based on your contributions, we will schedule the webinar in the coming weeks. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to directly influence the development and improvement of Veda.

We're excited to hear from you and to work together in making Veda even more user-friendly and efficient for everyone.

Warm regards,
KanORS-EMR Team

Hi KanORS-EMR Team,

It's great to see this dialogue generating a number of worthwhile suggestions. It's interesting to see little overlap.  I'm in the process of updating the TIMES-Starter Guidelines and have a few thoughts to toss out. 

·       Open VEDA2.0 window where/as it was last closed, rather than full screen each time.

·       RunManager Settings / Properties Group not staying pinned?

·       Tight link of the ScenarioGroup and the Cases is cumbersome.  Really a ScenaroGroup should be a set of core VEDA scenarios (templates) and Cases then introduce changes. Such as a ReferenceGroup with a CO2 limit imposed, or perhaps a variant of the ReferenceGroup, PolicyGroup, that in the case of the TIMES-Starter loosens the market penetration constraints to allow more rapid uptake of new technologies. Could limit the # of Cases able to augment any selected Group to say ½ dozen or so, all applied in the order provided.

·       The process of updating to a new VEDA release is cumbersome (and quite time consuming). If being done on the same computer cant a “migrate” option be added to the Model menu to that the full state of said models is simply copied to the new instance rather than having to backup then restore (including a full reSYNC, rerun of all Cases, and reestablishing all Results?

·       Remember the tables in the Results Tables last viewed and upon RefreshData prompt if to “Reload last tables” (or better yet make it an option that can be ticked on the form), and preselect them when presenting the list (user can clear via 2x select/unselect All).

·       Better mechanism to setup multi-case graphs in the Results, unless the answer is move to Reports. To which, a Reports dedicated tutorial would be very helpful towards that goal. 
·       What happened to saving Browse Selection Criteria/Layout VEDA had available?

Keep up the innovation and advancing the state of TIMES model management under VEDA!!!

[Gary]

Hello Veda Community,

We're thrilled to announce an upcoming interactive webinar hosted by KanORS-EMR, and your participation is key to its success! This event is all about addressing the challenges and hurdles you face while using Veda.

We Need Your Input! 

Have you been experiencing issues like time-consuming file imports or complex workflows? Or are there aspects of Veda that could be more intuitive or efficient? This is your chance to voice those concerns.

How to Get Involved:

1. Describe Your Challenges: Post the specific issues you’ve encountered while using Veda in this thread. The more detailed you are, the better we can understand and address your needs.
   


2. Suggest Improvements: If you have ideas or suggestions for new features or enhancements, we'd love to hear them! Your insights could shape the future of Veda.
   


3. Other Communication Ideas: If you have suggestions on how we can better gather your feedback, please share those as well.
   

Based on your contributions, we will schedule the webinar in the coming weeks. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to directly influence the development and improvement of Veda.

We're excited to hear from you and to work together in making Veda even more user-friendly and efficient for everyone.

Warm regards,
KanORS-EMR Team

Hi KanORS-EMR Team,

It's great to see this dialogue generating a number of worthwhile suggestions. It's interesting to see little overlap.  I'm in the process of updating the TIMES-Starter Guidelines and have a few thoughts to toss out. 

·       Open VEDA2.0 window where/as it was last closed, rather than full screen each time.

·       RunManager Settings / Properties Group not staying pinned?

·       Tight link of the ScenarioGroup and the Cases is cumbersome.  Really a ScenaroGroup should be a set of core VEDA scenarios (templates) and Cases then introduce changes. Such as a ReferenceGroup with a CO2 limit imposed, or perhaps a variant of the ReferenceGroup, PolicyGroup, that in the case of the TIMES-Starter loosens the market penetration constraints to allow more rapid uptake of new technologies. Could limit the # of Cases able to augment any selected Group to say ½ dozen or so, all applied in the order provided.

·       The process of updating to a new VEDA release is cumbersome (and quite time consuming). If being done on the same computer cant a “migrate” option be added to the Model menu to that the full state of said models is simply copied to the new instance rather than having to backup then restore (including a full reSYNC, rerun of all Cases, and reestablishing all Results?

·       Remember the tables in the Results Tables last viewed and upon RefreshData prompt if to “Reload last tables” (or better yet make it an option that can be ticked on the form), and preselect them when presenting the list (user can clear via 2x select/unselect All).

·       Better mechanism to setup multi-case graphs in the Results, unless the answer is move to Reports. To which, a Reports dedicated tutorial would be very helpful towards that goal. 
·       What happened to saving Browse Selection Criteria/Layout VEDA had available?

Keep up the innovation and advancing the state of TIMES model management under VEDA!!!

[Antti-L]

Is there a recording of this Interactive Webinar available for watching?